Hermetic seal



Nov. 20, 1928. 1,692,189

E. SCOFHELD HERMET I C S EAL 'Filed May 7', 1926 INVENTOR C; 2 M ATTORNEY 2 Patented Nov. 20, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENTwOFFlCE.

EDGAR SCOFIELD, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO ANCHOR CAP AND CLOSURE I CORPORATION, OF LONG ISLAND CITY, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

HERMETIC SEAL.

Application filed May- 7, 1926. Serial No 107,403.

The present invention relates to closure caps and more specially to a closure cap adapted for use with packages packed under vacuum.

Heretofore inthe art it has been customary to provide closure caps with flat top portiOns having a skirt adapted to carry a gasket constructed to be sealed against the side of a suitable container. During the sealing operation where a vacuum is produced in the sealing chamber there is a tendency of the rush of air in the package to lift the cap from its position over the mouth ofthe container. To obviate this it is customary to provide the sealing machines with cap holders which hold the cap in position over the mouth of the Vessel during sealing operations. In view of the fact that vessels vary slightly in height, these cap holders are usually yieldingly pressed against the cap by means of a-spring construction. This seats the fiat top cap tightly against the end ofthe container and tends to hold air in the package during the exhaustion preparation. The customary way of packaging food products under a vacuum is to utilize a sealing chamber in which the package is placed in open atmosphere, then the sealing chamber is closed and a vacuum quickly produced therein just prior to the final sealing operation. Where sealing operations occur in very rapid sequence, as isthe custom, a very short interval of time is allowed for the production of the vacuum within the package. The smooth top of the cap held tightly against the end of a container greatly interferes with the production of the vacuum Within the container, especially where the interval of time during which the vacuum is effective is very short, so that while the gases may be effectually removed from the sealing chambers, a large amount of gas may remain in the container and the whole purpose of the vacuumizing operation greatly diminished.

The present invention overcomes the dilficulties' of the known art by providing a closure cap of the side seal type in which separated su ports are provided in the cap over the end wall of the container mouth to permit the cap to be securely held in position against the end ofthe container and at the same time provide open passageways o f ample magnitude to enable the gases within the container to be effectually exhausted prior to the sealing operation. To this end the cover portion of the cap may be provided with indentations suitably spaced apart and the side wall of the cap be of suflicient diameter to permit a continuous passageway for air and other gases between the skirt of the cap and the container.

Other and further objects of the present invention will in part be obvious and will in part be pointed out hereinafter by reference to the accompanying drawings, throughout the figures of which like characters are used to represent like parts.

Figure 1 is a detail sectional View through the mouth of a suitable container and an unsealed closure cap of the present invention resting thereon.

Figure 2 is a plan view of a portion of a closure cap according to the present invention.

Figure 3 is a detail portion of a side wall of the container with a closure cap according to the present invention hermetically sealed thereon.

Referring now to the drawings and more specially to Figure 1, which illustrates a closure cap ofthe present invention resting upon the mouth of a. suitable container 1 before the hermetic seal is completed,the closure cap comprises a cover portion 2 provided with a skirt 4 having a sealing bead 5 therein,.which bead is so constructed as to carry a suitable gasket 6 of rubber composition or the like. The cover portion 2 of the cap is provided with supporting members 7 which thereof and downwardly between the skirt of the cap, the gasket and the side wall of the container to the-exterior of the package,

as indicated by the arrow 9,'Fig'ure l. A convenient way of producing the supporting members is to provide a groove 10 in the top of the cap with deeper portions comprising tions extending from an annular ridge, so

that when the dies are seated the ridge forms the groove 10 in the cap top and the projections form the indentations comprising the supports 7.

When thetair or gas in the container has been exhausted, the cap may be hermetically sealed against the side Wall of the vessel by deforming bead 5 in such manner as to tightly compress the gasket 6 against the side wall of a container as is illustrated in Figure 3.

A further advantage of the present invention residesin the fact that the supports 7 being formed from the resilient material of the cap top hold the major portion of the cap top spaced from the end of the fragile glass end wall of the container and prevent breakage or chipping of the mouth of the container when the'top of the cap is struck by any hard object. These supports 7 therefore are in effectvshock absorbers which permit packages according to this invention being packed or shipped in end to end relation without danger of breakage. It is realized that the present invention may be effectually carried out by construe tions other than those herewith specifically disclosed and, therefore, it is desired that the specific disclosure herewith shall be considered as illustrative and not in the limitingsense. &

Having described my invention, I claim: 1. As an article of manufacture, a closure cap adapted to be sealed on a container having a cover portion and a skirt portion, and means comprising indentations formed in said cover portion to support said cap and provide passageways beneath said cap when the cover portion thereof is resting upon the mouth of a suitable container for the exhaustion of air beforethe cap is hermetically sealed,

2. As an article of manufacture, a closure cap adapted to be hermetically sealed on a container having a cover portion and a skirt portion, and means comprising indentations formed in said coverportion adjacent the edge thereof to support said cap and provide passageways beneath said cap and leading downwardly between the gasket of the cap and the container when the cap is resting upon the mouth of a suitable container for the exhaustionof air before the cap is hermetically sealed. v

3. As an article of manufacture, a closure cap adapted to behermetically sealed on a container having a depending skirt, an annular head in said skirt adapted to support a gasket, a cover portion and supporting means adapted to support the cap on a container and provide open passageways leading from the interior of said container between the gasket and container side wall to the exterior thereof for the escape of air before the cap is sealed.

4. As an article of manufacture, a closure cap comprising a cover portion, a skirt depending from said cover portion, a sealing bead in said skirt, a gasket carried bysaid bead, spaced apart supporting members formed in the cover portion of said cap to support said cap on a suitable container prior to the sealing operation and to provide open passageways leading beneath the cap for the escape of air before the cap is sealed in position on a suitable container.

5. The combination of a closure cap and a suitable container having a mouth with walls of substantially incompressible material, said closure cap being providedwith side sealing means spaced from the side wall of the container before the seal is made, and supporting means to provide passageways beneath the cap to facilitate the withdrawal of gases from said container before the cap is sealed in position.

6.'A sealed package comprising a glass container or the like, and a closure cap hermetically sealed on the mouth of said container, an annular groove in the cover por tion of said cap, portions of said groove being depressed more than other portions thereof to form resilient means contacting with the end wall of the container and supporting a substantial portion of the top of said cap in spaced relation to the end of said container to comprise shock absorbing I container, portions of said groove being de-' pressed to form buttons 'for engagement with the mouth of the container, whereby passages are formed between said groove and the mouth of the receptacle to facilitate the exhaustion of air therefrom.

' EDGAR SCOFIELD. 

